From: Shivanthi Sathanandan <alhaja7@...>
Subject: Exciting Concert by the Carnatica Brothers and Nirmala Rajasekar on
Fri, June
3rd! FREE Lec/Dem on Thur, June 2nd!

Dear Music Enthusiasts,

The Indian Music Society of Minnesota (IMSOM) is proud to announce the next
concert
of our 2005 season: an exciting evening of Carnatic music featuring the dynamic
vocal duo, N. Sashikiran & Ganesh Kumar, and the Twin Cities' own acclaimed
Veena
artist, Nirmala Rajasekar, on Friday, June 3rd! This electrifying collaborative
concert
is happening only in Minnesota - you won't want to miss it! NOTE: There will
also be a
FREE Lecture/Demonstration by these artists on Thursday, June 2nd! Please
scroll
down for further details.



"The Carnatica Brothers"
N. SASHIKIRAN & GANESH KUMAR (Carnatic Vocal)
with
NIRMALA RAJASEKAR (Veena)
accompanied by
Nagai Sriram (Violin)
&
Tanjore Murugaboopathy (Mridangam)

This concert is co-sponsored by by KFAI "Fresh Air" Radio (90.3 FM in
Minneapolis
and 106.7 FM in St. Paul).


DATE: Friday, JUNE 3, 2005
TIME: 7:30 pm
VENUE: Lake Harriet Spiritual Community Center
4401 Upton Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55410

Please visit our website: www.imsom.org for parking details and maps.



DIRECTIONS & PARKING:
The Lake Harriet Spiritual Community Center (LHSC) is located at the Southeast
corner
of 44th Street and Upton Avenue in beautiful Linden Hills neighborhood in South
Minneapolis, just west of Lake Harriet. The map on the right shows the major
routes
to the LHSC from elsewhere in the Twin Cities area. The LHSC has its own parking
lot
to the South and East of the building itself, and you can usually find some
on-street
parking. Another option on the weekends is a school parking lot a block
Northwest of
the LHSC.
Please visit www.imsom.org for further details.


TICKETS:
Advance:
Students/Seniors/Members - $10
General - $15

Door:
Students/Seniors/Members - $12
General - $17

Buy advance tickets now and save $s! Visit the link below to purchase advance
tickets
online:
http://www.imsom.org/html_files/online/adv_tkt_20050603.jsp




LECTURE / DEMONSTRATION: A great opportunity to interact with these
internationally renowned artists in an intimate venue!

DATE: Thursday, June 2, 2005
TIME: 7:30 pm
VENUE: Pangea World Theater Studio
Calhoun Arts Building
711 West Lake St., Suite 101
Minneapolis, MN 55408

ADMISSION: FREE!
Please visit our website: www.imsom.org for parking details and maps.




ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Carnatica brothers - K. N. Shashikiran and Chitravina Ganesh: The Carnatica
brothers
started as raga-identifying child prodigies before they were three and have
since
emerged as front-ranking musicians in the Carnatic circuit. They have performed
over
2000 concerts in India and abroad, having garnered both critical acclaim and
public
popularity. Some of their recent awards include Best Concert and Best Ragam
Tanam
Pallavi awards at the Music Academy festival (2003-04), Yuva Kala Bharati
(2002), and
the Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer award for the most talented young artistes
(Nov
2004). K. N. Shashikiran, the founder of Carnatica, is the only musician who has
also
been awarded the Bharat Nirman Excellence Award by the Global Economic Council
and the Outstanding Young Indian for the Millenium by Jaycees International.
Ganesh
recently created a world record for a 33-hours non-stop marathon performance on
the Chitravina.

Nirmala Rajasekar debuted as a soloist at age 13. As a vocalist, Veena player
and
composer, she has received many awards and laurels for her work. Empanelled by
the
Indian Council for Cultural Relations, she has performed in Festivals of India
around
the world to great acclaim in many cities including London, Berne, Zurich,
Bombay,
New Delhi, Madras, New York, Cleveland and Minneapolis-St.Paul. In Minnesota,
Nirmala has composed and performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, Walker Art
Center, Schubert Club, Cedar Cultural Center, Minnesota Public Radio, PANGEA
World
Theatre, IMSOM, Women in Motion, and Katha Dance Theater, and several Ragamala
Music and Dance Theater productions. Nirmala Rajasekar was primarily responsible
for conceiving, planning and executing the very first Aradhana concert in 1995.
Since
then she has coordinated the planning and execution of all subsequent Aradhana
community music festivals for IMSOM over the years. Nirmala is the winner of a
Best
Concert Award from
KFAI Radio in Minneapolis and has won grants for composing and performing from
the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Playwrights' Center. She has just
received a
Cultural Collaboration Grant for the year 2004-2005 from the Minnesota State
Arts
board to explore Carnatic music and its relationship with Jazz with bassist
Anthony
Cox. The prestigious 'A Grade ranking artist' honor was awarded to Nirmala by
Indian
Radio and Television in 1991. Her astounding creativity has been showcased in
many
recordings of her work by the BBC, England (Library of world artists album)',
Audio
Lit. Inc- California, USA (Poems of Mirabai), Shruthilaya Records Chennai, India
(Melodic Expressions), Speak Easy Records- Minnesota, USA (Words will heal the
wound). The music of the documentary film 'The Story of Vishnu - the Temple
Elephant' released in January 2003 on DVD has been co-composed by Nirmala. Her
next recorded work 'Veena Dhwani - Sounds of the Veena' has been recorded in
Minnesota and is
awaiting release. Her collaborative work 'Bhakti' (March 2003)- based on the
spirituality of 8th Century Indian Saint Andal and 11th Century German Saint
Hildegaard Von Bingen (with composer Ruth Mackenzie and Dancer Aparna
Ramaswamy) had a grand 8-show opening. Most recently, Nirmala composed and led
the musical ensemble for the Walker Art Center commissioned production of
'Sethu',
produced and performed by Ragamala Music and Dance Theater and staged in a
spectacular outdoor setting at the Minneapolis sculpture garden in September
2004.
She has been invited to perform in the world- renowned International Winter
Music
Festival in 2004 in Chennai, India.

Nagai Sriram has accompanied stalwarts like Madurai Seshagopalan, T. V.
Sankaranarayanan, S. Sowmya and the Carnatica brothers. He toured the US in Fall
2004 with Sri. Umalyalpuram Sivaraman. He is a nephew of Nagai Muralidharan.


Tanjore Murugaboopathy is one of the leading disciples of the late Sri. Tanjavur
Upendran, Murugabhoopati has toured all over the globe accompanying leading
artistes. He is a choice mridangist for top-notch artistes like U. Srinivas,
Aruna Sairam
and O. S. Arun. He has also accompanied the Carnatica Brothers on numerous
occasions.

For further information, please contact:
Ameeta Kelekar: 651-787-0497, ameeta@...
Shivanthi Sathanandan: 651-698-0774, shivanthi@...


We hope to see you at the concert!

Shivanthi Sathanandan
Public Relations Representative
IMSOM Executive Committee
shivanthi@...
651-698-0774


* * * IMSOM celebrates 25 years of bringing the best in Indian classical music
to
Minnesota! * * *